Well, good morning church open your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 2 we finished Luke chapter 1 last week we're gonna start Luke 2 this week, and I'll just Give the warning for all the type A personalities out there. You might see a heading in your Bible that says the birth of Jesus Christ, the shepherds and the angels, and you're gonna look at your watch and say it's May 26th, not December 14th, but I can just give you the promise that by God's grace, we will get through it together, I promise. I tried my best to raise the tension a little bit this week to convince Chris to play like Joy to the World or Hark the Herald Angels Sing He held the line, he stayed strong, so that was good. Page 857, if you're borrowing a Pew Bible in front of you, and as always, if you don't have a Bible of your own, please feel free to take that one. It will be on the middle left column of the page on page 857 there this morning. Read with me, church, from Luke, chapter two. We're gonna be verses one through 21. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the angels returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Well, maybe you had a similar experience with me, 17, 18 years old. For me, this was April of 2003. So if you want to do the math, you can figure out exactly how old I am. But I remember coming home from school every day and checking the mailbox for a college admission letter. I had applied to several schools and I was very anxious to see who or what schools would want me to go and study with them for the next four or what ended up being five years of my life with them. And so, when I would come from school every day, I'd open up the mailbox and I was anxiously awaiting to hear news. This was back in the day when your acceptance or denial to college came on a piece of paper that came in that big hunky metal thing at the end of your driveway. But the suspense was exciting. News I was waiting for was that I would be accepted into the colleges that I wanted to go to. Now, news is an interesting word. It implies that we don't know something and we are awaiting to hear possibly something that would be good and pleasing to us. We, as humans, love to hear good news. Well, tomorrow being Memorial Day, I think it's fitting to look back at perhaps one of the most joyful heralds of good news in our country's history, and actually perhaps maybe its first. This came on September 5th, 1783. It was on that day that John Adams wrote a letter back to the President of Congress in the colonies from Paris, France, regarding the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris. The beginning of that letter goes like this. To the President of Congress, Paris, September 5th, 1783. Sir, on Wednesday, the third day of this month, the American ministers met with the British minister at his lodgings at the Hotel New York, and signed, sealed, and delivered the definitive treaty of peace between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain. Although it is but a confirmation, a repetition of the provisional articles, I have the honor to congratulate Congress upon it as it is a completion of the work of peace. Now, I don't believe there's any news as good in all the world for the most number of people than that of news of peace. War is a terrible reality. Its existence may lend itself to epic movies, maybe some examples of heroism or bravery, but it does so at the expense that humanity is asked to do the most terrible thing it can do, which is to end other human lives. News that peace has been made is a sweet word that anybody who's been fighting for any amount of time will gladly welcome in their hearts and in their lives. Our passage today says that we have good news of great joy. This is a passage that is incredibly familiar to us. And like we've already talked about, we usually read it in December, not May. It speaks of the birth of the Christ child, the revelries and the circumstances that surround it. But one thing I hope we look at and we consider as we approach this passage today outside of its normal context, normal seasonal context, at least for us, is why we have great joy. What is the good news? Why do we celebrate it? What is the reason for it? Now, the reason for the season, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, His birth, is an incredible thing to even just think about, that God would come to us. But I wanna examine a little bit more of what that means for us this morning, because I think the scripture today shows and reveals something to us that maybe we don't consider as deeply as we normally do. I think what the scripture is telling us this morning is that God's good news of great joy is peace with him through his incarnate son. God's good news of great joy is peace with him through his incarnate son. We see three things about God's good news of peace this morning. The first thing we observe is this good news of peace has a vessel. This would be what we would say is the reason for the season. The peace has a vessel. It has a carrying object. Let's look in verses one through five. In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Now there's several items I think we should consider here right out the gate. One is the level of detail that Luke uses in describing the events of this news that's about to go out. Now, of course, Luke, we read in the very opening words of this gospel, is providing an orderly account so that Theophilus can have certainty concerning the things that he's been taught. But I think there's a little more going on here than Luke is just providing a lot of details for certainty, for orderly reporting. The word registered or registration is used four times in these first five verses. Luke is very specific about the path and the placement of this couple, Joseph and Mary. They go from Galilee, a larger region, from Nazareth, a specific town in that region, to Judea, once again a larger region, to the city of David, a town in that region, and he's very specific to tell everybody that town is called Bethlehem. Mary is with Joseph, and they are still betrothed. They're not married. I think that this detail is added to assure Theophilus that this marriage has not yet been consummated. Mary is still a virgin. The specificity would imply that Luke really, really wants Theophilus to know that Mary and Joseph, although they never would have been there normally, had a reason to pack everything up with Mary being nine months pregnant and make a journey that was around 90 to 100 miles. There were no cars, there were no planes, this took a long time. And with somebody who's nine months pregnant, that would not be something that would normally happen. There had to be a reason, and the reasons are given for this journey. The Bible says that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that the people needed to be registered. Now, this was done in those days, the scripture says. And as we often see in scripture, the phrase this day, that day, in those days, in this way, in this time, those types of words, usually indicates some sort of fulfillment is about to take place. Consider Matthew's account of the same story in Matthew 1.18. It says, now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. God, as he normally does throughout scripture, is using a pagan ruler to bring about his good purpose and his sovereignty and his providence. God doesn't just teleport Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. He uses human events and he uses human means to bring about his purpose. Verses six and seven record the actual occurrence of the birth. Like we saw last week, a child was promised and a child is now born. We're told that while they were there, while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. This is further solidifying the fact that God's sovereignty and his providence is front and center. God is making sure this happens the way he wants to. He wasn't, Jesus was not born before the trip. He's not born after the trip. He's not born in the long journey to Bethlehem. He is born in Bethlehem. And the Bible says that he was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. This is a detail we'll see later on is very, important is there for a reason. Now, besides some unusual circumstances, the first seven verses don't seem to necessarily, at least on their face, to connect the good news of God's peace with humanity to the rest of the story. It almost seems like this is just a story about how a child is born. Anybody who's had a child has a story about each child. I remember vividly every detail, the birth of both of my sons, There were some unusual circumstances. There was some drama. There was some crying. There was joy, laughing. Lots of things happened. You could tell the story a bunch of different ways, but in the end, God graciously and mercifully gave us a healthy mom and baby. Is that what's happening here in these first seven verses? Is that it? Is that all we're supposed to take away? Think if we look a little closer, two things are gonna stick out and set up the rest of the story. The first thing we see is that Caesar Augustus is identified as the emperor. Now this detail of Caesar Augustus is almost unnecessary. If Luke is trying to just narrow the calendar down and tell Theophilus this is when this happened, he mentions Quirinius as governor of Syria, that would have been a much smaller, more specific timeframe. He could have just said the emperor. Everybody would have known who the emperor was in this time. Caesar Augustus is a very famous person throughout history. Any search of a history book will tell you that after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Augustus, with a couple of other guys, they go and they take on Caesar's assassins and they prevail. Augustus is crowned emperor in 27 BC, an office he would hold till his death in 1480. So why does Luke mention Caesar Augustus? What's the purpose? Now, I obviously can't read Luke's mind. But an interesting thing to note is Augustus is famous for many things, but perhaps what he's best known for is ushering in this time called the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome, this time of complete imperial peace in the empire. Some ancient works, and not so many words, even refer to Augustus as the Roman Prince of Peace. Second thing we see in these first seven verses is the emphasis on why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem. It says it's because he was of the house and lineage of David. We know that Micah 5 says that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem. This was a fact that the Jewish scholars in Matthew chapter two would concede and verses chapter two, three through six of that gospel. But more than just identifying the town where Jesus was gonna be born, the identification with David is almost certainly in reference to the covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel chapter seven. I think it's worth a quick turn there just to refresh ourselves on what we're looking at. 2 Samuel seven. Verse eight, now therefore you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from following the sheep that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies before you and I will make for you a great name. like the name of the great ones of earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. From the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up for you offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Down to verse 16. and your house and your kingdom shall be sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever." God gave David a great promise, but God also gave David rest. Through David, God brought peace to the people of Israel. By his work in David's life, there's an end to violence. This peace, like the Roman peace that Augustus issued in, like the peace that was given to Israel, would be short-lived. But with God's promise in 2 Samuel 7 and his identification here with this child, his covenant is that David will have a vessel that is going to bring peace that will last forever. Indeed, there will be a prince of peace that is coming, and the increase of his government and of his peace, there will be no end. Isaiah chapter nine. The recording of this child's birth shows that God's plan is happening just as he said it would, by coming in order to create peace with the people who are actively warring against him, and this peace is coming in the vessel of this child. The second thing we see about God's good news of peace is that it's been revealed. It's been revealed. God doesn't keep his peace a secret. verses nine and 10, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. God is about to reveal something, but not just something, something incredible. If we remember our Old Testaments well, God, more times than not, doesn't give news in this way. Doesn't send an angel or speak directly in a big booming voice or appear in this glorious manner. He does so, a good bit, he does it with Abraham, he does it with Moses, he does it with Isaiah, but you have a large section in your Bibles, most of the Old Testament and therefore most of your Bible as a whole called the prophets. God gives news often or gives declarations of judgment or salvation through men who are speaking by his spirit to the people. He's revealing himself through men. here in Luke, this is now the third time in a little over two chapters in our Bibles that we see God has visited his people to give news about this child. Even when he appears for John, he's saying John is preparing the way for another who is to come. The same command each time is given to all three. Do not be afraid. This would imply that God's angels are not the cute, cuddly, fat baby things that we see in paintings. They're probably more like heavenly warriors that could end you with the swipe of their sword. If you notice, though, one detail, this account is slightly different than the previous two. This event brings with it the shining of the glory of the Lord. Like the disciples we read about last week in Mark chapter four, the same reaction is present. They feared a great fear. They were terribly frightened. Lots of different translations translate it slightly differently, but the fact is these people are terrified. whatever revelation is about to happen, it seems that it's more glorious, it's more impactful than the rest. Word told, this news comes with the glory of the Lord. We read what the news is in verses 10 through 12. The angel prepares the news by saying, this is good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Now, up to this point, we've seen that a lot of the news that's been revealed and a lot of the reaction in Mary's song and Zechariah's song has been for God's people, Israel, and it's kind of been kept there. If we go back and read 154 or 168 through 77, you can see for yourself, this is kind of where the audience is at. But the angel's announcement here seems to expand the demographic just a bit. If the angel wanted to speak specifically to the people of Israel again, he could have used the same language that Mary and Zechariah do. This is a new context that we're actually separated now by time and geography. So now we're looking at a context where the angel uses the word all, all the people. So all seems to imply that this news is for a greater number of people than just the nation of Israel, but it's also constrained by the clause the people. The definite article is there, as in this is a certain number, certain type, certain group of people. So it's larger than just the nation of Israel, but it's also not every single human being who is living on the earth. There's a very specific type of people for this news. The actual news is announced in verse 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Once again, we see this language of this day. That would imply that we have some kind of fulfillment in this news. And what we find is this verse is chock full of fulfillment. In fact, we see the only time in the New Testament where the titles Savior, Christ, and Lord are all together, all three titles in one specific verse, one specific mention of the Savior. Indeed, the angel here tells us we have fulfilled the king that is promised to David in 2 Samuel 7. He's here. The savior that was promised to crush the head of the serpent in Genesis 3, he is here. The promised Messiah shepherd whose days are from of old, in Micah 5, he is here. The Lord of whom David said, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. He is here. The time of suspense is over. The angel announces the beginning of God's plan to rescue his people from their sin. His purpose here is to tell the shepherds that what God has revealed in his holy scriptures from all time has now been revealed to them in space and time and in history. What follows next is another one and only in the New Testament, and the statement, and this will be a sign for you, that specific word. Now, there's plenty of signs in the New Testament. Jesus performs lots of signs. He even calls them signs. So I'm not saying that this is the only sign given in the New Testament, but it is the only time in the New Testament when we see that phrase, this will be a sign for you, This phrase is also used a handful of times in the Old Testament. But here in the New Testament, the angel uses language that's reminiscent of Isaiah 7. That verse says, or 7, 11, and 14 says, and this will be a sign for you. The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel. We have that same language. when God uses this in his scripture, these signs are offered to try to convince the hearer or the receiver of the news that something is about to happen or it has already happened, which is the case here. The sign is strange enough that it wouldn't be something you would come across in everyday life, as in virgins don't normally conceive and give birth to children. That is not the normal occurrence of everyday events. Here, the sign is you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Now, Bethlehem was a big enough city. It's not a huge city, but it's a big enough city where you may have more than one newborn baby in the town. But a baby that's lying in an animal feeding trough. I'm not an expert on animal feeding troughs in the ancient Near East of the first century, But I'm guessing they're not the most sanitary or pleasant places to be. In fact, I would say that our 21st century feeding troughs are not that either. When our sons were born, I remember Hannah, whenever I had to, whenever I wanted to hold our children, she made me wash my hands. It didn't matter if I set them, like, I set our children down in the crib, and, like, when I made a sandwich, and, like, two minutes later, I came back, I had to go wash my hands again. In fact, I have a picture, palm of my hand, the flesh is literally, like, peeling off because I've washed it so many times, it's so dry. It's really disgusting. But that is how much Hannah wanted to keep our babies sanitary. idea that a baby would be in a feeding trough. Now that is strange. Not only is it strange, this is a child you've just been told is king, savior, anointed one, and he comes with the authority of God himself. Now that would be persuasive enough to convince even the most hardened skeptic, if they weren't convinced already by the fact that there's this big glory of the Lord shining around an angel who is speaking with them. God is granting a significant grace to his audience, that what he is promising has actually happened, it's actually taken place. As with any revelation from God, we should be exceedingly thankful, as we'll see the shepherds are, because we do not deserve for God to reveal himself in any way to us, yet he does so mercifully and graciously. What happens in verses 13 and 14 is the reaction to this in heaven. There's more than just the angel now. And what we can only think is like a choir of angels that are singing. They say, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace forever. among those with whom he is pleased. Now, the description of the choir and their message carries significant importance to understanding God's good news of peace that's being revealed in their message. The Bible says that there's a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Now, the word to describe host is normally translated and considered in a military context. That's what we would normally see it in works of this time. We'll see it in other places in scripture. So maybe this is not necessarily a church choir. It's more like an army that is singing. The book of Revelation is really the only other New Testament context where we see the multitude in heaven. More specifically, chapter 19, verse one says this, after I heard what seemed to be a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. And then again, if we skip down to verse six in Revelation 19, Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, hallelujah, for the Lord, our God, the Almighty, reigns. Both instances are praising God and giving Him glory. But more interestingly enough, both praises of God by this multitude of the hosts in heaven are coming in the midst of a prophecy whereby God will destroy His enemies and bring everlasting peace through the second coming of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. the multitude in Luke 2 at his first coming, shows that we should expect the same praise for God in what they sing, glory to God in the highest. That is, God deserves the glory as high as we can possibly describe it, as high as we can possibly give it, all the way up to the highest in heaven. And on earth, peace. That is, the glory that reaches all the way up to the highest in heaven. comes and brings peace to even the lowliest parts of his creation. But then we get a limitation if you catch it. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Now God's glory has no bounds. That's why it's described as reaching up all the way up to the highest that is in heaven. But God's peace And this description has a limit. Now, don't hear me say that God's ability to provide peace is limited, it's not. God's ability to atone for sin is not limited in the fact that he is not capable of doing it. What I think our passage shows is this peace is not guaranteed or given to every single person that walks and breathes on the face of this earth. This passage is not saying God is not limited in what he can do, it's saying his peace is limited in how it is applied. God's peace, this says, is reserved only for those with whom he is pleased. We read earlier this good news of great joy was limited to a certain group of people. Remember we talked about it's bigger than all of Israel, but it's also not all of humanity. The only people that receive peace, church, are those upon whom the Lord's favor rests. If we think about it, it can't be any other way. If it happens any other way than that, then we have somehow contributed to the terms of peace. We know God's word says, and we saw last week, we are natural enemies of God. That's how we come into this world. And apart from his gracious work in our hearts, God's peace does not fall on us. Peace only comes to those whom the mediator intercedes and makes the peace treaty with God. It comes only through the one by whom we receive knowledge of salvation and forgiveness of our sins. Jesus would go on in John chapter 10, he would say this, you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me. I give them eternal life, they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. This word for snatch means to try to take something by force. We would normally see this in the works of the day as like an army that's trying to hold a city, and there's an invading army trying to snatch it away from them. There's only one group. of people who receive this protection from God. It's those with whom he has provided peace with himself. Jesus, in John 6, a few chapters before the one we just read, says, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It would appear that God's peace only comes through the birth of this child that is born in Bethlehem, and the work and the terms of peace are fully on God himself. God reveals the saving work in the vessel of this child who is mysteriously both man and God as we confess this morning, and he does so to end a war and bring peace with a people who were his enemies naturally as they come into this world. This brings us to our final point this morning. God's good news of peace in his son has a reaction to those who hear and see it. There's a reaction. This news fills the shepherds with so much joy that they go as quickly as possible to Bethlehem to see the thing that has happened. Now notice the shepherds don't go to see if this thing has happened. There's no if there. They are fully convinced in their faith and what God has revealed to them is so sure, they go just to see it and to rejoice in it. And they say, what the Lord has made known to us, as if these things have already taken place, we are going to see them for ourselves. They arrive, they find the child lying in a manger, just like verse seven said Mary and Joseph placed him, just as how they said the angel said this would be a sign for you in verse 12, just as they were told they would find it. And the Bible beautifully says, when they saw it, it says they faithfully preached the good news that had been told to them. These lowly shepherds, whose testimony would normally not be lent a whole lot of credibility, say in like a court, They react joyfully, and they bring the greatest news of all time that God has ever revealed to a small number of people in a tiny town in ancient Judea. Church, do you find joy in the news that there is a king, that there is a savior, that there is a promised one, that there is God himself who came to us in order to make peace with the living God at whom we were at war. The reaction of the news of the shepherd says that all wondered. Just in the way, like we saw in a chapter earlier, where when Zechariah writes on the tablet, his name is John, there was a reaction of wonderment. It says, they wondered. And then we get a conjunction, it says, but. But this indicates that whatever's about to follow is different. We're about to get Mary's reaction and it's going to be different and what we'll see superior to that of just sheer wonderment. says she lays up these things, says she ponders them in her heart. Church, does the good news of the gospel still fill your mind like this? Does the fact that you were God's enemy, but now he has made peace with you through his son penetrate all the way down to your heart? Or is it simply a matter of that's neat, that's cool, and it's just wonder? Shepherds go back to their work. In the same manner, the angels appear to them. They go back glorifying and praising God. If we remember the way the Bible describes the reaction in heaven, that is what the angels were doing. They were praising God, glory to God in the highest. Here, we see that transmission of heavenly praise has now made it to earth in these shepherds, quite literally on earth as it is in heaven. reaction to this good news that is only revealed by God's special revelation, verse 20 says, for the third time in five verses, if you catch it, that God had made known to us, that God had revealed to us. This news always will spark an intellectual reaction. In fact, Paul sees this at the Areopagus in the book of Acts. They are very intellectually interested in the Christian faith, but church, the good news of the gospel will only penetrate and sear the conscience and hearts of some. My prayer is that this good news of great joy will not become so dull in our lives that we forget the magnitude of what it means for God to tell us the good news of peace in his son by his word. Our executive pastor, Brother Jason Reed, within the last year, finished a marathon. It's a pretty big deal. It's really hard. I know a lot of training went into that, and I'm sure it was not fun in the midst of it. Now, I get reminded almost daily that Jason is a smart individual, much smarter than me in our interactions. But I say he's smart So he almost certainly knows the reason and the story behind why a marathon is 26.2 miles. And being as smart as he is, he decided to do one anyways. The legend is that the Greek army was fighting back the first Persian invasion in 490 BC at a port Greek city called Marathon. And once the battle was near a victorious end, it says there was a messenger named Pheidippides and he ran all the way from Marathon to Athens to burst into the General Assembly and declare this good news and immediately collapsed and died. The distance from Marathon to Athens is approximately 26.2 miles long, and the first person who ever tried to do it died of exhaustion. Pheidippides' good news was so important, so glorious, that he ran to the point of his death to deliver it. His good news of great joy to the Athenian people, to the Greek assembly, was we have won. Verse 21 ends our passage this morning with Mary and Joseph's faithfulness to the Mosaic law. They circumcised Jesus on the eighth day. It also ends with their faithfulness to God's command that this child shall be called Jesus, which is the name given him by the angel. Now, it would be easy to pass over this statement and just chalk it up to another feather in the cap of Luke providing a detailed and orderly account. But I think if we leave it there today, we're gonna miss so much of what is happening in this last verse that we seemingly can just pass over. In closing today, I think we should go back to Luke chapter one, verses 31 through 35. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. This is no ordinary child. Church, this is no ordinary birth story. We confess the nature and the person and the deity and the manhood of Jesus Christ this morning, but let us never forget what is happening with his coming. The angel tells us with the fact that he is called Jesus, that he is great. He is son of the most high. He inherits the throne of his father, David. He reigns over Jacob forever. He is holy. He is the Son of God. The angel sums all of this good news of great joy up and that his kingdom will have no end. Kingdoms, church, come only through victory. Victory that brings peace. The birth of this child echoes the words of Pheidippides, we have won. It echoes the words of John Adams that this is a completion of the work of peace. You see, Augustus may have ushered in peace by military might and coercion, but God's news of great joy is peace with him comes through his incarnate son. This son is a king, he is a savior, he is Christ and he is Lord. He's sent here with the purpose of going to the cross and making peace by the blood of that cross. Our brother opened the service up today with Romans chapter five, verse one. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace from what, church? Peace from what? Verse six, for while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were his enemies, We were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. There is only peace through Christ's church. Let us never forget as we leave here today, that God has provided peace with himself by entering history himself to end our war with himself. Let us never forget God's good news of great joy is that he has made peace with humanity through his incarnate son. Let us pray. Father, had we been left to ourselves, we would war against you with our last breath. We would be like the nations in Psalm 2 that rage and plot in vain. God, we don't deserve your peace. We're not owed your peace. Father, in your mercy and in your grace, you come to us who have no terms to offer. We have no merits of our own to give you to make the peace treaty. Father, you wanted this peace so much that you came into history yourself in the form of a child by your incarnate Son. to go to the cross and make peace by his blood on that cross. Father, may this never grow dull in our hearts, may it never weaken in our minds that we were your enemies, but even in the midst of that, you saved us by faith and repentance in your son. These are gifts from you and we thank you for it. We give you the glory and we ask that you would use us in this as you fill us with your spirit to go forth and do for your kingdom what you have called us to do. God, we pray these things in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.